No More Nails

You could use many words to describe England - inconsistent, frustrating, inspired, dogged, resilient and knackered are a number that spring to mind – but no-one, surely, could describe them as boring. This was another humdinger of a match, a game with more ups and downs than the most alarming rollercoaster and, once more, England snatched vistory from the jaws of defeat. Given the way that the games have gone would have been perfectly possible for England to be boasting a 100% record and yet, at the same time, it is also perfectly possible for them to have lost every game. Such are the margins in this World Cup.

The game yesterday was further evidence, in case it is necessary, that bowler friendly pitches frequently produce more exciting cricket. Watching captains being torn from their formulaic approach to the fifty over game has been one of the high points of the tournament so far. A lot of sides have opened with a spinner at some point and have frequently used slow bowlers in the PowerPlay overs and we have also seen some more imaginative and attacking fields than is the norm in this form of the game. Andrew Strauss’s decision to deploy a short leg to Ramnaresh Sarwan with only twenty odd runs needed was a moment of inspiration that would have been inconceivable in the recent past. There is evidence that Twenty20 is making teams think more imaginatively about their approach to the game, which can only be a good thing.

Now that we are used to these nail biting finishes, perhaps the biggest surprise was the part played by Luke Wright and James Tredwell, both of whom had been deemed surplus to requirements in the first five games. Wright batted sensibly, which hasn’t always been the case in the past, as England did their best to throw away to throw away a good start with some soft dismissals. Jonathan Trott, who had looked in dazzling form, will be particularly annoyed at the way that he got out having looked good for yet another big score. Tredwell, on the other hand, first helped Wright to stabilize the innings (although the run out that brought about his downfall was farcical) and then held his nerve brilliantly with the ball to dismiss Gayle, who was at his most imperious, Smith and the dangerous Bravo in quick succession before coming back to finish Andre Russell’s startling knock. He was deservedly man of the match.

Where England go from here is anyone’s guess. It’s fairly safe to assume that either South Africa will beat Bangladesh or India will beat West Indies, especially as the matches not involving England have generally followed the script, so they should find themselves int eh quarter finals and after that anything is possible. There are still significant problems in the side: Ajaml Shahzad is out injured, Chris Tremlett looks rusty, Jimmy Anderson looks shot, Paul Collingwood and Michael Yardy look as though they might never play ODI cricket again and Matt Prior doesn’t look like an opening batsman. It seems likely that Chris Woakes will replace Shahzad, which adds some all round strength, but they are going to be reliant on Strauss, Trott, Morgan, Bopara and Swann to turn up if they are to go much further. That said, they are unbeaten against the top four sides in the group and have the grittiness and determination required to do well in knock out cricket. They have become impossible to predict, and the tournament is all the better for it.

As for the West Indies, they may well yet qualify for the quarter-finals. The green shoots of recovery are certainly there: Kemar Roach is a high quality quick bowler, Andre Russell is raw but unquestionably talented, Darren Bravo needs to go on and make big scores but has great potential and in Devendra Bishoo they have a leg spinner who, if properly managed, could become a real force. He had an impressive debut and his domestic figures are exceptional for a young player, so his future could be very bright. If they reach the quarter-finals their opponents will have to take them seriously.